Drying house



F. H. SMITH DRYING HOUSE Aug. 18, 1936.

Filed July 12, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Zmvemorr Gttornegs.

Aug. 18, 1936. F. H. sMlTH 2,051,348

DRYING HOUSE Filed July l2, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 F. H. SMITH Aug. 18, 1936.

DRYING HOUSE Filed July l2, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 |I||||l||| lllllllllllllnhl Il Il Gttornegsr Aug. 18, 1936. F. H. SMITH 2,051,348'

DRYING HOUSE I E E Q\ E Ei ai 'zg as- Q 29 ai e Q nqqhuul i@ l@ imm"- n -"MT l l: I Myanmar, i i fafvwzfzwfa, l u s g a /MaWm Ma -A LttorncgS- Pteotod Aug. 1s, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,051,343 name nousn Forrest n. smith, Kinston, N. o. Application July 12, 193e, serial No. 467.542

7Claims.

house will be directly heated by said burner or burners; to arrange the burner or burners adjacent the iloor or ground within the house and to provide a baille thereabove which will prevent the flame from passing upwardly in a straight line, which will permit the heated air to be deflected from the burner, and which baille will also function to guard the burner against tobacco leaves and sand dropping into said burner; to provide a plurality of burners within the drying house and to connect said burners by a common oil feeding pipe which is connected to a main oil supply located outside of the house; to locate the burners within the house and adjacent the walls thereof and to provide adjustable openings in the walls for the admission of atmospheric air to the burners; to provide air inlets to the burners which terminate Vat points above the burners whereby the inlet of air will not aect the operation of the burner; to provide a vertically adjustable main oil supply to thereby vary the oil level in the burners and consequently vary the temperature within the house; to provide means automatically responsive to temperature changes within the house to raise and lowenthe main oil supply; to provide a burner or burners within the house and to associate a vertically adjustable conduit with the burner or burners whereby the conduit may be lowered to receive the burners or may be suspended in spaced relation; to

provide the individual burners with a hood surrounding the combustion chamber, the hood having a top spaced from thebody portion to provide an air passage and an adjustable air guard mounted for movement along said air passage, and to provide a plurality of burners within the house and located respectively in individual boxes or chambers and to'directly connect said chambers with a heat radiating conduit located within the house.

With these and other objects in view which will more fully appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by following the description, the appended claims, and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings which show several modifications of my invention,

Figure 1 is a horizontal section through a drying house showing a plurality of connected burners disposed therein and connected to a main oil supply, f Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of 'Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a detailed vertical sectional view showing the form of air inlet disclosed in Figures 1 and 2,

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view showing a 15 modified form of air inlet,

Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the main oil supply tank and support,

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through one of the burners and showing the baille plate arranged thereabove together with the supports for said plate, y

Figure 7 is a detailed horizontal sectional view taken through the. burner,

Figure 8 is a partial elevation showing the hood of a burner, a top therefor, together with an adjustable air shield,

Figure 9 is a. top plan view of the structure shown in Figure 8,

Figure 10 is a modified form of baille plate which may be used with an individual burner,

Figure 11 is another form of bame plate which may beiused with an individual burner,

Figures 12, 13, and 14 are fragmentary perspective views showing modified forms of baille plates which may be associated with a series of burners,

`Figure 15 is a horizontal sectional view through a house showing an air conduit directly connected to a plurality of boxes or chambers containing individual burners,

Figure 16 is a side elevation showing two burners, two burner chambers and the directly connected air conduit, as shown in Figure 15,

Figure 17 is a horizontal sectional view taken through the structure shown in Figure 16,

Figure 18 is a. transverse sectional view taken on the line lil- I8 of Figure 16,

Figure 19 is a. detailed view showing a burner and an air conduit supported thereabove and adapted to be lowered close to the burner or to a position to receive the burner,

Figure 20 is a view similar to Figure 15 but showing a single burner and burner chamber connetted to the conduit,

Figure 21 is a detailed sectional view taken on the line 2I-2I oi.' Figure 2, and

Fiure 22 is a view similar to Figure 2 but show ng means responsive to temperature changes in the house for automatically raising and lowering the main oil supply.

Referring particularly to Figures 1, 2, 3, 6, '1, and 21, I have illustrated one form of my invention in which a plurality of burners are arranged withinthe drying house at a common level and are connected in series with an oil feed pipe which in turn is connected to a main oil supply tank which is adapted to be manually adjustable vertically and retained in an adjusted position to thereby vary the oil level in all of the burners simultaneously whenever 1t becomes desirable to vary the temperature within the house. Referring particularly to these iigures, there is shown a drying house A having side walls 5, 5 and yend walls 6, 6. Located within the house and disposed adjacent the walls 5 and 6 is a plurality of burner units B, the burners along each wall being arranged in a series alinement. Although I have shown three burners in each series, it will be understood that any number of burners may be employed without departing from the spirit of my'invention. An additional series of burners B are arranged in alinement and extend across the central part of the house. An oil feed pipe 1 connects the wall burners in series and an oil pipe 8 is connected to the pipe 1 and to the centrally located burners. Each burner is supported from the pipe 1 or 8 through the medium of an upstanding pipe 9 which receives the lower end of a vertical pipe I0. A packing gland II is carried by the pipe 9 for sealing the joint `between the pipe 9 and the pipe I0. The upper end of the pipe I0 is integral with a bowl I2 and has communication therewith through an opening I3. The bowl I2 is annular in plan view and is U-shaped in cross section to form a resultant vchamber I4 for receiving the wick I5 and the oil which is fed from the main oil supply. It will be noted that the oil level in the chamber I4 will normally correspond with the oil level in the main supply tank; that if the main supply tank is raised or lowered the oil level in the chamber I4 will correspond, and that if' the burner including the chamber I4 be raised above the oil level in the main supply tank, the burner will cease to operate. Seated upon the bowl are inner and outer perforated cylinders I6 and I1 forming therebetween a combustion chamber which registers with the wick I5. Disposed around and in spaced relation to the-outer cylinder I1 is an imperforate hood I8 which is connected to the cylinders I6 and I1 by a cross rod I9. Another cross rod 20 arranged at an angle to the cross rod I9 passes through the two cylinders I3 and I1 and the hood I8 and cooperates with the rod I9 to support the hood I8 and to prevent relative rotation between the cylinders and the hood. Rigidly secured to the bowl I2 and extending downwardly therefrom is a rack bar 2I which is engaged by a pinion 22 fixed on a shaft 23 journaled on a support 24 which extends upwardlyand is iixedly connected to the oil feed, pipe 1. A hand wheel 25 is xed to the shaft 23. Thus when the hand wheel is turned the pinion 22 will raise or lower the rack bar 2I and consequently the burner with the result that the chamber I4 may be elevated above the oil level in the main supply tank and thereby cause said burner to cease functioning.

The pipes 1 and 8 may be supported above the ground by any suitable meansas for instance supporting blocks 28. Disposed above each burner B and in spaced relation thereto is a baille plate 21, said plate being supported by legs 28, 28. This plate includes an imperforate central portion 29 which is disposed directly above 5 the burner, and a series of perforations 30 which surround the imperfor'ate portion 29 .and through which the heated air from the burner may pass upwardly. In practice, I may desire to support a relatively long and narrow screen 3| above each 10 of the several series of burners, the screen being supported by the walls of the house. The screens are arranged directly below the tobacco which is in turn supported by tier poles 32 located above said screens. Thus thebaille plates 21 prevent l5 the flames from the burners passing upwardly into direct contact with the tobacco and thereby all danger of the burners setting the tobacco leaves on re is avoided. Furthermore the imperforate portion 29 of each baille plate pre- 20 vents any loose leaves or sand from gravitating into the burners, and the perforations 3|! in each bale plate permit the heated air to pass upwardly from the burners into direct contact with the tobacco leaves. In order to provide for a proper 25 circulation of air within the house, I have provided each wall of the house with an air inlet opening 33 adjacent the bottom thereof, and within the house I have provided a baille plate 34 which parallels the wall and extends upwardly to 30 a point above the burners so as to permit the house and has its inner end connected to the/ad- 35 jacent feed pipe 1. This inlet pipe 35 terminates at its 'upper end in an ,upstanding pipe section and to the upper end of this pipe section is connected a bowl shaped support 31 which communicates with said pipe 36'as shown in Figure 5. 40 Seated upon the annular wall 38 of said bowl 31 is a main oil supply tank 39 having a valved outlet 40 at its lower end. When the tank 39 is placed on the support 31 the oil therefrom will pass through the valved outlet 40 into the support 45 and thence through the pipe section 36 to the inlet pipe 35 and thence to the feed pipes 1 and 8. When the pipe system is filled the oil within the support 31 will seal the valved outlet 40 as will be readily understood.

I have found in practice that 'the temperature within the house should be maintained between F. and 180 F. When the temperature in the ho-use approaches the minimum, the main oil supply isv elevated so as to raise the oil level in each 55 of the burner chambers I4, and when the maximum temperature in the house has been reached the ,main oil supply is lowered thus correspondingly lowering the oil level in each of the burner chambers I4. To this end I have provided means 60 for supporting the inlet pipe 35 and consequently the main oil supply tank 39 in different positions of vertical adjustment. For this purpose I have provided a U-shaped bracket 4I which receives the pipe 35 and which is suitably anchored in 65 the ground by a pin 42 or the like. The arms 43, 43 of this bracket are provided with alined openings arranged in vertical series. A stop pin 44 is permanently located within ther upper alined openings and functions to limit the upper 70 movement of the inlet pipe 35. A second stop pin 45 is adapted to be positioned in any of theother alined openings so as to support thelnlet pipe 35 together with the main oil supply tank 39 in any predetermined position of vertical adjustment. 75

acens-1e Instead of employing the air inlet baiiies 34 I may prefer to employ an inlet pipe 45 as shown in Figure 4. This inlet pipe 4l has its inlet end disposed in registration with an opening 41 formed in the wall 5 of the house and is provided with a supporting flange 48 which is secured to said wall by screws or bolts. This pipe 43 extends inwardly for any predetermined distance and then terminates in an upwardly extending portion or end section 48. `By this arrangement the fresh air will be directed into the central portion of the house.'

Instead of employing a ilat baille plate 21 and supporting legs 28 as shown in Figures 1, 2. and l particularly, I may desire to employ a dome shaped baille plate 50 as shown in Figure l1. This plate 55 is provided with an imperforate top p0rtion and with a perforate wall. The wail is provided with upwardly extending recesses I, 5I to receive the feed pipe 1.

Instead of employing individual bame plates such as 21 and 50. I may prefer to employ a relatively iong and narrow baille plate which may cooperate with a plurality of burners. a In Figures 12, 13, and 14, I have shown three modified constructions of these relatively long and narrow baille plates. In Figure 12 the baille plate 52 is arcuate in cross section, whereas in Figure 13 the baille plate 53 is flat, and whereas in Figure 14 the baille plate 54 is similar to the bame plate 52 but is provided with flat inclined sides.

Instead of employing any of. the baille plates 21, 50, 52, 53, or 54, I may prefer tomount a baille plate 55 as shown in Figure 8 on the hood i8 of each burner. The baille plate 55 is cone shaped and is supported on the annular flange I8n of the hood i8 through the medium of spaced uprights 56, thus forming an annular air passage between the hood I8 and the baille plate 55. In order to avoid the burner being disturbed by air currents, I provide an air'guard 51 which extends partially around the air space between the baille plate 55 and the hood I8. This guard 51 is supported from a pin 58 extending upwardly from the apex of the cone shaped baille plate 55 through the medium of a supporting wire 59 which permits the guard plate 51 to be rotated to any predetermined position.

I have shown a modified form of my invention in Figures l5, 16, 17, and 18. In this form, I have enclosed the burners B in boxes or chambers 60 and have connected these chambers by T-couplings 6| to a conduit 52 which extends around the house in parallelism with the walls 5 and 6 thereof. A cross conduit 63 connects opposite side portions of the conduit 52 and this cross conduit is connected in the same manner to the centrally located burners. Each of the boxes 50 is placed directly against the associated wall of the house and the wall is provided with an opening 64 for admitting outside air into said box. The opening 64 is adjustable in size by means of a slidable door 65. The heated air from the various burners is received into the conduit 62 and across the conduit 63 and this air passes outwardly to the atmosphere through an outlet pipe or conduit 66. Thus in this form of my invention, the smoke together with the air which is directly heated from the burners is not admitted into the house but is passed through the conduits 82 and 63 and thence outwardly to the atmosphere. Therefore the interior oi the house is free from the products of combustion, although the conduits 82 and 63 are of suiiicient area to radiate sumcient heat for tobacco within the house.

In Figure 20, I have illustrated substantially the same arrangement as shown in es 15-18, but have employed a single burner and a single burner chamber 61 instead of a plurality oi' bumers and chambers. In this form I have provided an air inlet pipe 68 which communicates with the chamber 61 and an air outlet pipe 68 which communicates with the conduits 52'l and 53".

In the modification shown in Figure 19 there is disclosed a burner B and directly above this burner is located a conduit having a downwardly extending inlet pipe 1| of an area sumcient to embrace the burner B. This conduit 13 is adapted to be supported for vertical adjustment by a wire 'l2 from some fixed point within the house whereby the conduit and the inlet pipe may be positioned above and in spaced relation to the burner B or may be lowered so as to positiony the inlet pipe 1| directly around the burner.

It may be desirable to automatically raise and properly curins the lower the main fuel supply tank 39 whenever the temperature changes within the house to any appreciabledegree. To this end, I have pivoted the oil inlet pipe 35 centrally between its ends on a bracket 13 and have inserted a flexible coupling 14 in said inlet pipe 35 at a point between the bracket 18 and the house. The outer end Yof the inlet pipe 35 is rigidly connected to the oil supply tank 39, and in order to avoid repeated renllings o! the tank 39, I preferably connect the upper end thereof by a flexible hose coupling with the lower end of a stationary oil drum 15 oi' large capacity. The pivoted inlet pipe is in the nature of a lever and a counterweight 11 is mounted on the end of said inlet pipe 35 opposite the tank 35.

Fixed to the inlet pipe 35 between the bracket 13 and the tank 39 are upper and lower armatures 13 and 19 respectively and associated with said armatures are eleotromagnets 30 and 8| respectively. The magnet 6| is connected to a thermostat 82, which is located within the house, through the medium of a circuit 83 which includes any source of electrical energy such as batteries 84. The magnet 8| is likewise connected to the thermostat 82 but through the medium of a circuit 85 which includes any source of electrical energy such as batteries 86. Thus when the temperature in the house is at minimum the circuit 83 will be automatically closed and the magnet 80 energized. As a result the tank 39 will be elevated and the oil level in the burner compartments |4'will be raised. This will cause the burners to generate increased heat and when the temperature in the house reaches a maximum the thermostat 82 will automatically close the circuit 85 and energize the magnet 8| to lower the tank 33 and thereby lower the oil level in the chambers I4 oi' the burners. It will be understood that the thermostat 82 includes adjustable contact arms 81, 88 and a temperature control arm 89 whereby the thermostat may be manually set for predetermined minimum and maximum temperatures.

It is of course to be understood that the details of structure and arrangements oi.'4 parts may be variously changed and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. The combination with a drying house including side walls and end walls, of a plurality oi' spaced independent fuel burning heating units located withinthe house and arranged in series adjacent the walls thereof, a main fuel supply located exteriorly of the house, a fuel feed pipe located inside the house and connecting all of the units, and a single inlet pipe connecting the main fuel supply andthe fuel feed pipe.

2. The combination with a drying house including side walls and end walls, of a plurality of spaced independent fuel burning heating units located within the vhouse and arranged in series extending substantially around an'd adjacent the Walls thereof, means located above the units for supporting articles to be dried, spaced baille means interposed between the units and the articles, and a screen interposed between the baille means and the articles. y

3. The combination with a drying house includingside walls and end walls, of` a plurality of fuel burning heating units located within the house and arranged in series extending around adjacent to the Walls thereof, an individual imperforate boxing surrounding each unit, a conduit extend-l ing along the walls of the house and connected to the respective boxings, each boxing having an air inlet, and an air outlet connected to the conduit and exhausting into the atmosphere outside the house.

4. The combination with a drying house, of a heating unit therein, and a vertically adjustable hot air receiving conduit supported above the unit, said conduit having a depending inlet pipe disposed above the unit and of a size to surround the latter when the conduit is lowered.

5.' The combination with a drying house, of a fuel burning heating unit located within the house, a. vertically movable fuel supply tank located exteriorly o1' the house, a-pipe connection between the tank and the unit, and means responsive to temperature changes within the house for automatically raising or lowering said tankto vary the fuel level in the heating unit.

6. The combination withl a drying house, of a fuel V,burning heating yunit located within the house, a. vertically movable fuel supply tank located exteriorly of the house, a stationary main fuel supply tank located exteriorly of the house, a vertically movable fuel tank located exterlorly of the house, a flexible pipe connection between said tanks, a pipe connection between the vertically movable tank and -theheating unit, and means responsive to temperature changes within the house `for automatically raising or lowering said tank to vary the fuel level in the heating unit.

7. The combinationwith a drying house including side walls and end walls, of a plurality of spaced independent fuel burning heating units located within the house and arranged in series extending substantially around andl adjacent the walls thereof, means located above the-units for supporting articles to be dried, and spaced baille means interposed between certain of said heating units and the article supporting means, the baffle means comprising imperforate portions disposed directly above the associated burners and perforated portions disposed at the sides of said imu perforate portions.

FORREST H. SMITH. 

